NFL Network’s Mike Lombardi: Browns QB Colt McCoy needs to get bigger

Lombardi, a Browns executive in the 1980s and ’90s, liked McCoy’s rookie performance, but said he must improve physically to take the next step in his progression.

“I think his body’s got to get bigger, his body’s got to get stronger, his arm’s got to improve,” Lombardi said. “He’s got to follow the same thing that (Green Bay’s) Aaron Rodgers did.

“For him to take the next step, he’s got to really recondition his body. To play in the NFL, 16 games, 60 minutes and to take the pounding quarterbacks take, if your body’s not ready it’s not going to be able to do it. If you look at Colt McCoy compared to some of the other quarterbacks in the league, he needs to get more physical and stronger.”

McCoy is listed 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. He went 2-6 as a starter and struggled with the deep ball.

** Lombardi said the Browns’ lack of talent means they should draft the best player available with the No. 6 pick.

“I would prefer to pick a defensive lineman, the hardest thing to find in the draft,” he said. “But they need outside receivers. Them and Baltimore might be the two slowest teams in football. They could certainly use (Georgia receiver) A.J. Green, but they could use a defensive lineman, too.”

Lombardi was told the Browns will switch to a 4-3 defensive scheme under new coordinator Dick Jauron.

“Then you’d better make sure you have an end,” Lombardi said. “Then you’ve got to figure out what you’re going to do, manipulate the players you have on the roster. It’s not as easy to go from 3-4 to 4-3 as people think it is.”